Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who is reviewing whether to impose a 25-euros per visit fee for being seen at hospitals, said he wants the European Union to pick up the cost of treatment for illegal immigrants inundating Greece and taxing the health system.
The Ministry is recording how many visits are being made by illegal immigrants and what the costs have been at a time when the government is cutting back on services to citizens because of a crushing economic crisis.
“We have asked August 28th to be the final date, so from all the clinics and hospitals in the country to be registered the complete data for the visits of illegal immigrants, as well as of the correspondent cost per month. We will claim the total sum from the European Union,” Georgiadis said in an interview with the radio station Real.
He said by demanding subsidies that the government sends a message to Brussels that “the Greek taxpayer would not be the only one paying for the illegal immigrant, but Europe will do so as well.” Greece is the entry point for some 90 percent of immigrants seeking to get into the EU and from asylum-seekers. According to estimations, the cost of hospitalization of illegal immigrant reaches 150 million euros ($201 million) annually.
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